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Marriage is a gamble, many people say. So why not put the matter into destiny’s hands, especially if the adventure becomes an exhibition in the National Art Museum in Ukraine? In some allegorical way, the matter correlates to the larger theme of the entire country’s trust in fate. This seems to be the essence of a new art project in Kyiv called “Sleeping Beauties”, created by a Canadian-Ukrainian artist Taras Polataiko.

Five young Ukrainian women, dressed in white wedding gowns, take turns sleeping on display in the museum for a couple of hours every day. Based on the fairytale “Sleeping Beauty”, the idea of the art-exhibition is for visitors to look at a sleeping girl, and, if they feel the urge, kiss her on the lips. If a sleeping beauty opens up her eyes she’s obliged by a legal contract to marry the man. “If I open my eyes when kissing, I will marry this person.” the female participants’ contracts state. Male visitors, before kissing a sleeping beauty, have to show their passports, which in Ukraine normally reflect marital status, in order to prove they are single and sign a similar agreement: “If I kiss the beauty, and she opens her eyes, I agree to marry her.”

Fate and destiny have always been big in Slavic cultures, for various historical reasons. Ukraine, for instance, has been going through political and economic turmoil for centuries, and people seem to have developed immunity to frustration by placing their hopes and desires into the hands of mysterious destiny, relying on fate. God knows what change the country's next ruler will bring or when the next economic crisis will hit. People admit often that they feel like very little depends on their actions or even general common sense, and that fate plays a defining role in making choices, in finding jobs, getting visas for traveling, and in other things that are important and not easy to control.

Especially, a stroke of destiny is important when it comes to sensitive matters of the heart: “If I feel it’s my true love, I would feel him on the intuitive level.” Said one participant in a video interview to The Telegraph: “If I don’t feel it, I won’t open my eyes. Anything can happen in life. What if it’s my destiny and this is the only way for me to meet my soulmate?”

Weird but an interesting concept of the show attracted a lot of attention, even from the Ukrainian government: the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture tried to shut down the installation before it opened. Later, the ministry and the museum worked out their disagreements, and everything is going on as planned.

Performance art and interaction with the public has been around since the 60s, often pushing boundaries and creating controversy. This time Polataiko’s controversial twist is created by implying real consequences to one innocent kiss. It’s impressive that he has managed to find young beautiful female volunteers who decided to go for it. Seduction permitting, the fairytale continues through September 9th.